The Initiative

Greg and I have started an initiative. We like to call it the "Post more content and works in progress" initiative.

Here are some screen captures of an environmental mock up I've been working on:







These screens show how the program will dynamically select a different brick to be rendered for each piece of the environment. Since a majority of the bricks in this scene (save for the ladders and boxes) are basic environmental blocks, they are technically all the same piece as far as collision detection and code decisions are concerned. With this smart render system we can make our environments automatically render an aesthetically pleasing and easily understood environment, without repeating the same brick model over and over. This will be a great feature for the players interested in making their own levels for Pod & Rodney.

Our progress is still steady. There has been a lot of motivation lately to work much harder towards a playable demo; mostly upcoming competitions and potential project exposure. More info will be posted in the next couple of days, and maybe some more screen caps of untextured environmental models.

Weekly Updates And Monthly Media Releases

So we're going to be trying things around here with a new spin. I'll be doing weekly updates on progress with the game, keeping everyone informed of developements.

As for the media releases. These will be either done bi-weekly or once a month. Depending on the amount and content of the release. Also this will allow for me to make video demos of a better quality, not to mention putting together individual videos can be a bit tedious at times. Also I plan on setting up regular broadcasting times so that you can do live chat with Andrew and myself, and get a peek into the development of the game. These will be a sort of supplement between media releases.

I'm going to try and do my weekly posts about Friday or Saturday. So keep an eye out for new posts around that time.

The Enviromental Handler

What the environmental handler is used for is handling events such as cases when a caged ladder needs to be placed

The Coming Weeks.

The boards have been silent for a little while... I haven't been able to get anything completed worthy of a video yet. Mainly the past few weeks have been spent cleaning and organizing code to make my life easier and adding to the game too.

The end of the month is the goal. By then I'm hoping to have something difinetely worth seeing. Till then I'm keeping this all a bit close to the chest.

The biggest challenge is not the coding part of this. It's the time.The next few weeks are going to be a bit... hellish. Between moving and work. But Pod & Rodney shall prevail!

Still Alive!

I know I haven't posted on here in a couple of days like I used too. But believe me, the project is still going! I'm just re-arranging and rewriting whole sections of the code to make this a better running game! So stay tuned! The milestone is the end of the month!

The Menu

I haven't posted in a few days, I'm still alive and so is the project. It's been alot of work getting everything organized how I want it code wise to make my life easier when it comes to putting all the puzzle pieces together to make this a game in the end.

As the title states. The menu, I'll be working on this for a day or two. Hopefully having a video of what it should start to shape up as. So watch the blog! I'll be back!

The Level Editor

With a tile based game like Pod & Rodney, it would only make sense to add in a level editor for third party levels / campaigns to be added. Although I haven't actually started any work on the actual GUI for the level editor, it is present to an extent. At the moment what I have implement to somewhat easily change the level is simply editing a text document. It just contains three lines total. One for the tile type, each is represented by a letter. Then the X and Y (Z-Axis in code) for each tile. So a level actually looks something like this.

B, B , B
0, 6, 12
0, 0, 0

What this would draw would be three basic bricks all at the same height and starting at zero and moving right. Of course I'll make this system better, then eventually will have an actual file format to use too. This just makes life easier than changing arrays in ten different files.

Indie Game Challenge

I was cleaning out one of my G-mail accounts earlier today. And found this diamond in the rough.


http://www.indiegamechallenge.com/

At first I wasn't quite sure how true it was or how legit till I did a bit of investigating. I'd absolutely love to submit a copy of Pod & Rodney for this. But the October deadline seems a be to fast approaching. And since I'm not totally sure to what point we'll have completed the game either.

These type of expos / contests seem to be popping up for frequently also. This seems to be happening as more of the industry begins to recognize the importance of the Indie games, such as Braid, Everyday Shooter, and Trine.

In my personal opinion I'd rather have a game that we spend six months on and thoroughly test. Than one where we hurry to make a deadline and it doesn't meet the par we want it too.

Maybe next year. Maybe Hydrogen.

Coding Playlist

Just for the heck of it I decided I'm going to post the play list that I made up for when I'm coding.

Worlds Collide - Apocalyptica
Stroke - Apocalyptica
Grace - Apocalyptica
Helden - Apocalyptica
Speed of Sound - Coldpay
Orinoco Flow - Enya
Cities of the Future - Infected Mushroom
Pistolero - Juno Reactor
Freak on a Leash - Korn featuring Amy Lee
Narayan - The Prodigy
Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve
Ode to Joy - Beethoven
Right Here, Right Now - Fatboy Slim

These particular songs are the ones that seem to get me into the mode of coding. That mindset wehere you think you can conquer the world through code.

Best Laid Plan

I'm at the point with the development of this game that it is no longer trying to figure out the best approach to, for example make Pod fall until he hits something. All the basic mechanics have been figured out, tested, and polished.

Now comes to the point where I must go beyond the plan of action I originally created for development and testing. Now comes the real deal. I'll be taking the next day and a half and writing out every entity and function. Coming up with all the necessary functions and variables that tie the whole thing together.

The next video I release will be the first stages of development of the ACTUAL game. The plan for this is to include the rewind, Pod, Rodney, crates, and ladders. All working.